By Juan C. Antúnez on November 25, 2013 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL Comm,Will and Trust ContestsFiduciary relationships and the duties and liabilities that spring from those relationships arise in all sorts of contexts. The classic examples are “status” based, such as court-appointed personal representatives (PR’s) and trustees appointed to serve as such under written trust agreements. But limiting your perspective to only self-labled fiduciaries isn’t very useful in inheritance disputes involving… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on May 25, 2012 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommI’m rarely able to physically attend these meetings, but always find time to read the excellent materials circulated to committee members. These materials are the best way to keep track of possible new legislation affecting the trusts and estates practice area. If you read this meeting’s Agenda you’ll find the following reports, all of which should be of interest to any Florida trusts… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on April 12, 2012 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommIf you’re like most trusts-and-estates lawyers, you don’t work at a big firm. Which means you can’t walk down the hallway and ask one of your partners for a good set of forms when someone wants to hire you to provide a legal opinion on some trust-related issue (as opposed to a tax opinion). Don’t underestimate the… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on March 16, 2010 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommThis is a bit off topic, but I recently came across a Goldman Sachs research report entitled Take Stock of America that deserves wider attention than your standard market analysis piece. The report is all about why the smart money’s riding on the U.S. Over the next 20 years China will (hopefully) continue to grow… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on January 11, 2010 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommThe Florida Bar Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section is now accepting applications for the 2010 Fellowship class. The RPPTL Section Fellowship program, created in 2007, awards up to 4 fellowships to exceptional Florida attorneys interested in our practice areas. The Fellowship program allows these individuals to be substantially involved in the Section work, receive leadership… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on September 13, 2009 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommTax issues loom large in trusts & estates litigation, especially when the estate tax is in play. So on Monday, September 14, 2009, I’m teaching a 90-Minute National Teleconference entitled Tax Issues in Trust and Probate Litigation [click here for seminar materials]. In this seminar we’ll examine how an awareness of the tax issues lurking in the background of almost every contested proceeding… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on May 22, 2009 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommThe Florida Bankers Association prepared this white paper proposing new legislation to be titled “Prudent Investor Rule Not to Apply,” aimed at relieving trustees of Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) from a duty to determine whether decisions made by settlors in the selection of life insurance companies, particular types of life insurance policies, and the continuing payment of policy premiums… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on February 9, 2009 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommI don’t know of a better way to quickly get your arms around the hot-button issues driving today’s estate-tax planning world [and current reform proposals, click here] than the three white papers listed below, all of which were prepared and published by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan committee of the United States Congress.… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on September 16, 2008 Posted in Trust Law CommitteeClick here for a PDF copy of the Agenda and related Reports/White Papers for the upcoming meeting of the Florida Bar’s Trust Law Committee at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne this coming Friday, September 19th, at 2 p.m. These materials are an excellent way to keep up on the latest developments involving Florida’s Trust Code that could affect you,… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on September 15, 2008 Posted in Litigation CommitteeClick here for a PDF copy of the Agenda and related Reports/White Papers for the upcoming meeting of the Florida Bar’s Probate & Trust Litigation Committee at the Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne on Friday, September 19 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. Any questions/comments regarding the meeting and the linked-to materials should be directed… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on July 21, 2008 Posted in Litigation CommitteeClick here for a PDF copy of the Agenda and related Reports/White Papers for the upcoming meeting of the Florida Bar’s Probate & Trust Litigation Committee on Thursday, July 24, 2008 from 3:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Breakers in Palm Beach County. These materials are an excellent way to keep up on the latest… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on June 2, 2008 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommThe Florida Bar Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section has developed a new Fellowship program aimed at encouraging junior attorneys (i.e., under age 36) and newly-minted attorneys (i.e., admitted to the bar for fewer than 10 years) to become involved in the Section. Breaking into this niche ain’t easy, so anything the Section can do along these lines is… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on February 11, 2008 Posted in Trust Law CommitteeSarasota attorney Barry F. Spivey, who also chairs the Florida Bar’s Trust Law Committee, circulated the following email and link to the Treasury Department’s recently published white paper on the U.S. gift tax. If tax planning is a part of your estate planning practice, this paper is probably a must read. Here’s Barry’s email and a link… Continue Reading

By Kristina Corbitt on January 7, 2008 Posted in Litigation CommitteeClick here for a PDF copy of the Agenda and related Reports/White Papers for the upcoming meeting of the Florida Bar’s Probate & Trust Litigation Committee. These materials are an excellent way to keep up on the latest probate-related developments that could affect you, your firm or your clients. I found the following items to be especially interesting: New Legislation: Fiduciary Lawyer-Client Privilege: [ITEM… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on July 24, 2007 Posted in White Papers - RPPTL CommThe next meeting of the Probate and Trust Litigation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, August 2 at The Breakers in Palm Beach from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. If you have any questions regarding this meeting, you should contact the committee chair directly: William T. Hennessey. The meeting materials copied here contain white papers addressing… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on May 28, 2007 Posted in Trust Law CommitteeThe Trust Law Committee met last week. I apologize for not posting this sooner, but a very hectic trial schedule kept me away from the blog last week. Regardless, my principal reason for posting the committee meeting Agenda and Minutes is to disseminate the following reports/White Papers: Holding of legal title of entirities property in trust… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on May 28, 2007 Posted in Litigation CommitteeBelow is a copy of the email announcing the last Probate and Trust Litigation Committee meeting. I apologize for not posting this sooner, but a very hectic trial schedule kept me away from the blog last week. Regardless, my principal reason for posting these announcements is to disseminate the attached reports/White Papers. The committee meeting Agenda and… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on February 16, 2007 Posted in Litigation CommitteeI’m rarely able to physically go to these meetings, but I always find time to read the excellent materials circulated to members prior to each meeting. I also find these materials to be the best way to keep track of new legislation affecting the trusts and estates practice area. If you read Jack Falk’s e-mail and the attached Agenda and Minutes for this meeting… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on September 26, 2006 Posted in Litigation CommitteeIf your practice involves contested probate or trust matters, you would do well to keep abreast of the legislative proposals being considered by the Probate and Trust Litigation Committee. For example, key legislative items currently under consideration are the following: The Committee is considering new legislation that would build on (or perhaps detract from?) existing statutory law… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on August 4, 2006 Posted in Litigation CommitteeThe Probate and Trust Litigation Committee will be meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, August 10, 2006, at The Breakers on Palm Beach, Florida, in conjunction with the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section’s Executive Council meeting. Committee Chair Jack Falk circulated two emails, which contain detailed memoranda addressing several legislative items… Continue Reading

By Juan C. Antúnez on September 6, 2005 Posted in Litigation CommitteeMiami Attorney Jack A. Falk, Jr., Chair of the Probate and Trust Litigation Committee of the Florida Bar, distributed this agenda as well as this memorandum in connection with the following pending and proposed legislative initiatives discussed at the August 18, 2005 litigation committee meeting: Repeal of the Deadperson’s Statute. Contestability of Revocable Trusts. Status… Continue Reading

Juan C. Antúnez is a partner with Stokes McMillan Antúnez P.A., a boutique trusts and estates law firm located in Miami, Florida. Trusts and estates litigation, probate administration and estate planning is all he does as a lawyer. He is a 1996 graduate of the New York University School of Law (J.D.), and a 2003 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law (LL.M. in Estate Planning). Prior to law school Mr. Antúnez volunteered for service with the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1987 to 1993 (4th ANGLICO, West Palm Beach, Florida), including combat duty during the first Gulf War.

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Year In Review

This is my running list of significant trust, probate and guardianship related appellate opinions since 2005. If you think I've missed an important appellate decision that deserves wider notice, please let me know. As new appellate decisions are published I'll add them to the list.